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by Goggles_McGee



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Be More Chill Big Bang, Fluff, Gen, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, Soft Boyos, South by Southwest, SxSW, Youtuber AU, bmcbb, friends are the best, others are mentioned - Freeform, so i am here to deliver it., switches between Michael's pov and Jeremy's pov, the softest, this fandom needs fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 20:37:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17905205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goggles_McGee/pseuds/Goggles_McGee
Summary: Jeremy Heere is a small YouTuber who creates game and theory videos, who maybe sorta has a crush on the bigger YouTuber Michael Mell. When he finds out Michael will be going to the South by Southwest convention at the same time as him, he thinks fully believes it is his chance to talk to and befriend the boy. He just hope his nerves won't get the best of him.Michael Mell is a big YouTuber who definitely has a big crush on the smaller YouTuber Jeremy Heere, who has no idea that Michael follows him, let alone knows who he is. When he finds out that the cute boy is going to the same convention as him, he decided his going to talk to him and try to woo him, but even if they just become friends then that would be great too!





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**Author's Note:**

> My piece for the Be More Chill Big Bang!

“And that’s why I believe that Rosalina is actually Luigi’s daughter from like…the future. Again, if you want to see my “evidence” you can go check out my Instagram or Tumblr. Handle for both is the same as this account name which is Heere2Game in case you are new to my channel. Next video is going to be my theory on why Peach ended up with Luigi instead of Mario. Thanks for listening to my rambles, I look forward to reading your rambles, Ramble on my Geeks!” And with that Jeremy turned off his camera and sighed as he looked down at his slightly shaking hands. He hated when they did that but unfortunately, they did that after every video, it didn’t matter how much videos he made (hundreds, he’s made hundreds), his hands would always shake as an after effect of holding off his anxiety. His viewers all knew he had it, but he kind of hated to show it.

 

Jeremy sighed as he stretched out his neck and legs, he still had to edit his video before posting it. He had to stick to a strict video schedule otherwise he would never get anything done. But before he did so he decided to go on his twitter, no better time to procrastinate when he actually had something to do, right? He lazily got up from his chair and walked over to his bed before flopping down ungracefully and nearly punching himself in the face. He scrolled through his Twitter for a while before he saw a familiar Twitter handle, Mellow-GamerMell, he couldn't help the smile that pulled on his lips once he saw it. He had been following this guy for years, since the beginning actually. Mellow-GamerMell was a fellow YouTuber but he had a way bigger following than Jeremy did, not that he minded, he honestly felt like the account should have more subscribers. The guy running the account was named Michael and he was a gaming channel, but he didn't only do let's plays of video games, he also played board games and card games, and kind of games actually and Jeremy greatly admired that. Okay, so maybe, just maybe, it was a little more than admiration but that wasn't any one else's concern.

 

He shook his head to clear his thoughts before he focused back on Michael's newest tweet. “Hello my dudes!” Jeremy read aloud with a soft laugh, he liked how Michael called his fans dudes, “Just to let you guys know I'm going to be traveling in about a week, I prerecorded some videos, but I won't be doing any livestreams…huh that’s weird…I’ll be at the-No way!”

 

The teen jumped up from his bed and began pacing the floor as he held him phone close to him and read and reread the tweet over an over again as he muttered ‘no way’, many times. He just couldn’t believe it, Michael Mell, the Michael Mell was going to South by Southwest at the same time as him! They would be in the same building, god maybe the same room. Jeremy had always wanted to meet him and it looks like he finally got a chance. He couldn’t help but bitterly think back to the last chance he got to meet the Youtuber. Michael was going to be at Vidcon and Jeremy had planned on going but then he got sick, like, he almost had to go to the hospital sick. Okay…he did end up going to hospital because he was freaking out because he couldn’t hold or grab anything, he had felt so weak, his dad had rushed him to the hospital where they gave him what they called a “Drug Cocktail.” He didn’t bother asking what was in it, all he knew was that it made him feel loopy. And that was how he ended up missing Vidcon. He was so mad after he recovered because, 1. He spent a lot of money on the tickets for everything, 2. He missed seeing Michael, and 3. He had to see so many of pictures of other people meeting Michael and that was just really unfair. But this was his chance!! He had a chance!

 

“Awesome! This is awesome! I gotta call Christine!” Jeremy yelled to no one in particular.

 

________________________________________________________________

 

 

“Dude…No freaking way.” Michael mumbled around his slushie straw as he stared down at his phone.

 

“What?” His friend Rich asked, though Michael must have been a genius or something to have understood him since his face was stuffed with pizza. They had decided to hang out at the mall after Michael had finished up his video. Jake, Rich’s boyfriend, had demanded they go to Sbarros, it was his and Rich’s favorite date spot, but just in general it was Jake’s favorite spot to be. If he wasn’t at home or with Rich, he was at Sbarros.

 

“You know that small gaming and theory channel I follow? The one with-“

 

“Jeremy. Yeah, I know it. It’s not like you constantly talk about it.” Rich said sarcastically with a wave of his half-eaten pizza.

 

Jake nodded with a chuckle before joining in, “And it’s not like you constantly tell us how cute his is, and how beautiful his freckles are! Oh and how wavy and soft his hair looks. Never heard of the guy.”

 

“Hardy-Har-Har, you guys are so funny.” Michael deadpanned before he rolled his eyes and shoved hos phone in the two boys faces to show them the tweet on his phone. “He’s going to South by Southwest! I can finally meet him!”

 

“That’s cool dude!” Jake exclaimed as he held his hand up for a high five, one Michael was all too happy to give. His cheeks were hurting from how hard he was smiling but he didn’t care, he would finally meet the boy who he has been watching for a long time, and who he thought was pretty cute.

 

“You gonna tell him you’ve been following him on a secret account and stalk his life on Instagram and Twitter with said secret accounts?” Rich asked as he wiggled his eyebrows at Michael.

 

Michael blushed at the mention of those accounts. They had been made in a moment of pure weakness, also known as Michael’s gayness. It had been one of those nights when his insomnia hit bad, he tried to go to bed at a reasonable time, but it just wouldn’t happen. He tried to find a comfy position to sleep in and nothing felt right, he tried to listen to those, sound and song you listen to before bed, yeah that didn’t help, he even tried the warm milk thing and that was a bust. So, he gave in and decided to watch YouTube videos until his brain decided to stop thinking and actually try to help him get sleep. It started off with the usual gameplay videos, some he’s seen before, others are new which was cool, then it went to soap cutting videos and ice mukbangs, and then finally to game theories. That’s when he first saw a video of Jeremy’s. It was a short theory about Apocalypse of the Damned, it was an intro theory which led to like seven other videos on the one theory, but Michael was immediately hooked. Apocalypse of the Damned was his all-time favorite game, like ever. Michael had settled in and pressed play on the video and once he caught sight of Jeremy, he knew he was a goner.

 

His freckles? Adorable. His wavy brown hair? Inspired. His smile? Just give Michael the coffin, he was dead the moment he saw it. Then there was his voice, a little high pitched but perfect, he had a slight stutter when he got excited or nervous,  and he always sung musical songs during his livestreams. Every video Michael saw, Jeremy would be wearing a cardigan which was cute as hell, one of his Merch shirts even said, ‘Yeah I like cardigans, so what?’ It was one of the best sellers along with a shirt with a cartoon version of him that had it's arms out and above it said ‘Ramble on my Nerds!’

 

Michael owned both. As soon as that video had ended was when he made a new email and another YouTube channel to follow Jeremy on, he didn't know why he didn't just follow him on his main account, but then he found himself making another Instagram and another Twitter just to follow Jeremy. Again, he didn’t know why he didn’t just follow him on his main, but well, maybe he wanted it to be something private. Life as a YouTuber meant you had very little privacy and well, if he showed interest in things, fans would bombard him with them, he loved them, but they got to be too much. There was a situation where he said he liked another YouTuber’s videos and with both of them being gay, well…the fans were convinced they were together and the whole thing just became too much to handle. Maybe that’s why he didn’t want his followers to know about his love of Jeremy’s channel. Because it would be a repeat of that situation and he really wouldn’t want to put Jeremy in that situation.

 

He knew Jeremy was a fan though! And that was like, super awesome. Though he almost died when he found out, he had been eating some Lucky Charms at two in the morning with Rich when they decided to watch YouTube videos, luck had been on their side when Jeremy started a livestream of him playing Scooby Doo: Classic Creep Capers, he explained that he couldn’t sleep so he decided to livestream. He never did state why he was playing an old Scooby Doo game, but Michael felt himself fall more for the boy. How could you not love someone who loves Scooby Doo? Anyways, they’re watching him play and one of his followers had made a comment about Michael playing the same game before, and Jeremy had gotten this big smile on his face and proudly claimed Michael was why he wanted to play it again. Michael promptly inhaled his Lucky Charms and almost died.

 

God, he really just wanted to talk to him, he considered DMing him as his secret account but he wouldn’t want to start a friendship off with lies so he held himself back, but now? Now he had a chance and he wasn’t going to waste it!

 

____________________________________________________

 

“Ready to go, Christine?” Jeremy yelled as he entered his best friend’s room where she was blasting the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack. He would have told her to turn it down but he was too excited. They would be flying out to SXSW and then he would get to meet Michael! Well maybe…hopefully, he would have to keep an eye out for the other boy once they got inside.

 

“Almost! Just packing up the bathroom stuff.” Came the reply from the bathroom, so Jeremy decided to flop down on her bed and wait for her to finish. He distracted himself by playing on his phone and checking his Twitter, he couldn’t help but smile when he saw the airport selfie Michael had taken with the caption, ‘On my way to SXSW!’ Michael was wearing his signature red hoodie adorned with patches, of course his glasses, but he was wearing a headband this time around. Jeremy loved seeing him in his headbands, though he rarely wore them in front of a camera, they made him look so cozy and cute. They were just another weakness of Jeremy’s. “Let me guess, Michael did something cute?”

 

Jeremy shoved his face into one of Christine’s pillows and gave a muffled whine of, “Yesssssssssssss.”

 

Christine just laughed at him and threw one of her stuffed animals at him which made him glare at her, she only laughed more. “Well I'm all packed let’s get going, Loverboy.”

 

“Whatever.” Jeremy grumbled as he got up and grabbed one of her bags for her and left her room, he knew he was still blushing but at least she didn’t tease him about that, though he had a feeling she wanted to.

 

The drive to the airport was filled with musical soundtracks of course, both of them singing their hearts out and laughing, the excitement was in the air. Jeremy was practically buzzing in his seat once they reached the airport. He hated airports, like a lot, but it was one step closer to the convention and Michael. Nothing would bring down his mood, not even the awful TSA lines and the wait to board. Though when he was sitting down in his seat next to Christine on the plane, he felt his stomach fill with butterflies and his heart started to race. Plane rides always amped up his anxiety and his thoughts ran wild with all the things that could go wrong. The plane hadn't even taken off yet but he still reached over to grab Christine's hand in his, he could tell she was waiting for it because she had her palm up on their shared armrest. He shot her a grateful smile which dropped as soon as he felt the plane start to back up.

 

“Do you want to take your medicine before we take off?” Christine whispered to him. He took in a deep breath and shook his head.

 

“N-No…Not yet. Once we're in the air I think I'll take it.”

 

“Okay. I have your headphones when you want them.”

 

“Thanks Chrissie.” Jeremy mumbled with a small smile. She was such a good friend. He's grateful they met. They actually met in high school, briefly dated to. Jeremy had this friend who turned put to be a huge asshole, but Jeremy hadn't seen it in the beginning. He believed his friend when he told him he had to change everything about himself if he wanted people to like him, specifically Christine. Of course it ended up blowing up in his face, the only thing he was grateful for during that whole thing was getting the courage to join theater. He had always had an interest in it, even when he was younger, his mom had been a big musical theater person, when she left, that's the only thing Jeremy could really think back on for a good memory of her, was their shared love of musicals.

 

The plane began to take off and all Jeremy's thoughts flew away as he held back a whimper when his stomach felt like it was in one of those anti gravity rides at the carnival. He squeezed Christine's hand and she squeezed it back, it helped but he just wanted the feeling to stop. Thankfully it ended but Jeremy didn't let go of Christine's hand until they hand been flying for a while.

 

“Pill time?” Christine asked as she pulled out her neck pillow and the water she bought at one of the stores in the airport.

 

Jeremy nodded and held out his hand, “Pill time.”

 

It became somewhat a habit for Christine to give him his anxiety medication on planes since his hands shook too much when up in the air. It started back in high school when their drama club went to Scotland for the American High School festival, which also was going on at the same time as the Fringe Festival. They had ended up sitting together which was awesome but that was when Christine found out about his fear or flying. She had been great and distracted him the whole time they were awake on the flight. She did the same on their way back. After that, whenever they had to fly and were together, Christine would take his pills in her bag and give them to him on the flight so there wouldn't be a risk of him spilling his pills everywhere.

 

“We'll be there before you know it! Try and get some sleep.” Christine said as she handed him the water and his headphones.

 

“I'll try.” Jeremy muttered as he took his pills. He plugged the headphones into his phone and pressed play on his playlist before he closed his eyes and prayed he would fall asleep fast.

 

___________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Michael sat in the line to enter the convention for about 20 minutes now, he wanted to get there earlier but Rich demanded a nap and settle down in their room time. They weren't even near the front of the line! What if Jeremy was up there? Okay…he knew that wasn't true because Jeremy and his friend had landed about two hours ago. Who knew if they were at the convention yet, or even just to their hotel. He was waiting though and constantly checking his phone to see if Jeremy posted anything that gave his location away, but the wifi seemed to dislike Michael and was going slow.

 

“Bro, calm down you'll see your boyfriend eventually.” Jake teased.

 

“You've been hanging out with Rich too much.” Michael grumbled from his spot on the floor.

 

“Well yeah, he's my babe.” 

 

“Hell, yeah I am!” Rich exclaimed as him and Jake high fives and kissed. Michael, being the cool mature guy, he decided to stick his tongue out at them.

 

“Don't be jelly dude.” Rich snickered.

 

“Dude who the hell even says jelly anymore?” Michael laughed as he playfully punched Rich's shoulder.

 

“Um all the cool kids, obviously.” Rich countered.

 

“Okay, yeah, sure, that sounds about right.” He teased back. Rich was about to say something but that’s when the doors to the convention hall were opened and people were being let in. Michael jumped up in excitement and nearly knocked over Rich, but Jake caught his boyfriend before that could happen. “Finally!”

 

It didn’t matter how many times he came to this convention, the initial awe of walking through the doors and seeing the set up filled him with excitement. He could see the tournament center, the venders, and he could smell the concessions in the air. Michael wanted to run wild and spend money he’d probably regret spending later, but he also wanted to hang back and see if he spotted Jeremy. At that thought, he grabbed his phone and saw Jeremy posted to both Twitter and Instagram. As quickly as he could he opened up Instagram and his heart nearly died. Jeremy looked sleepy but so adorable as he smiled at the camera with his friend Christine in the background. He only knew about Christine because she would sometimes be on Jeremy’s channel for co-op games, and he would guest star in her musical theater channel. Jeremy, of course, was wearing his signature blue cardigan, his striped shirt, he really likes stripped shirts (that may or may not have been why Michael made one of his merch shirts striped, he hoped Jeremy would buy it, and he squealed for like an hour when he saw that shirt in one of Jeremy’s Instagram posts) and his hair was even more out of control than usual and Michael was HERE for it.

 

“Aye, Rich and I are going to head to a panel. You wanna come?” Jake asked as he bumped shoulders with Michael.

 

“Nah, I want to take a look at all the venders first, plus the panel I want to go to doesn’t start till two.”

 

“Alright, wanna meet up at the concession station at 3:45 then?”

 

“Sounds good dude.”

 

“Cool see you then.”

 

“Later nerd.” Rich yelled as he walked beside Jake.

 

Michael rolled his eyes at his friends’ antics but decided to do what he said and go look at the venders, after that then he would look at the games on display. He wanted to wait for Jeremy, based off his post, he was at the convention center, but they would have to stop and get their wristbands and that would take a bit and also Michael didn’t want to come across as a stalker. He walked past the game station and made a mental note to ask Rich and Jake if they wanted to play some of the games later on, he saw multiple games of Magic the Gathering going on which Jake would probably want to join in on at some point during the week. The dude was hella good at that game, Michael on the other hand sucked tremendously, like he was great at Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! but Magic? Nope. No skill whatsoever. He walked over to a booth selling custom made die out of stones. Look he may have 30 or so sets of die but let him live his life okay?

 

Just as he was looking over the collection, he heard a very familiar voice. “Oh wow, it looks so awesome!”

 

“You say that every time you come here Jer.” A feminine voice added.

 

“I don’t come that often Chrissie! Besides it is awesome. Oh, look die! I need more for my collection!” And then the familiar voice was getting closer.

 

“Jer, you have like hundreds of die sets! You don’t need any more.”

 

“Um, correction, I need a billion more Chrisssssssssssssssss.” Michael looked to his right where he saw Jeremy, he may or may not have heard a choir singing as cliche as that sounds, and Jeremy was looking back at him with something akin to awe, and Michael had never seen such blue eyes!

 

“Hey! You’re Jeremy, right?” Michael heard a voice say, turns out it was his voice and boy….was he fucked.

 

___________________________________________________________

 

 

Jeremy didn’t hear right, right? Right? There’s no way that Michael, the guy he has maybe sort of had a crush on for years had just said his name. He must have just been standing there gaping like a fish because he felt Christine elbow him. “Ah yeah! Jeremy, that’s me, ha, a-and you’re Michael Mell! That sounded creepy didn’t it? Oh my god, I’m so sorry.”

 

Then Michael had the audacity to laugh! Does he want Jeremy to die????? “Dude don’t worry it wasn’t creepy at all. Besides I said your name first.” An angel. This guy was a literal angel. And oh my god that angel was walking towards him. MAYDAY! MAYDAY!

 

“True... Um, by the way…How-How did or do you know my name?” Jeremy asked with an awkward chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck. He could feel the blush rushing to his cheeks.

 

Now Michael was the one to blush, and man he looked so cute when he did. “Actually I uh, I follow you.”

 

And there went Jeremy’s last brain cell, bye bye, you served him well, well kind of…”You? Follow? Me? There’s no way you do. I would have noticed. I always notice if it’s you!” Jeremy declared.

“Ah well, that’s a uh, a funny story actually. I could tell it to you if you want to walk around with me?” Michael asked.

 

“I would love to!” Jeremy had to try his hardest not to yell his affirmation. But then he remembered he promised Christine they would walk around together. “Oh but I promised-“

 

“Np problem Jer! I wanted to go walking around the shop hall anyways. You two have fun!” Christine sing-songed as she walked away.

 

Jeremy laughed awkwardly again, damn he was just full of those today wasn’t he. He looked at Michael who gave him a shy smile as he pushed up his glasses, and there went Jeremy’s soul, it joined his last brain cell. He almost lost his breath when Michael cleared his throat and held up his elbow. “Shall we go?”

 

Jeremy being his awkward disaster self, looped his arm into Michaels and smiled at him. “We shall.”

 

He was sure that Michael was going to push him away and vow to never want to see him again, but he was pleasantly surprised when Michael didn’t do just that. Instead he shot Jeremy a smile that pretty much just made his heart die right then and there and started walking pulling Jeremy along with him. “Let us be on our way then.” And he fucking winked at Jeremy, who couldn’t stop the lovestruck giggle that made its way out.

 

This had to be a dream, right? He found Michael the literal first day of the convention, and Michael somehow knew who he was? Yeah this definitely was the scenario of many dreams he has had. THEN there was the added bonus that Michael wanted to walk around with him! Him! He was on cloud nine. He knew Michael was a dork, but to experience it first hand was unbelievable, it was great actually, it helped abate some of his nervousness so that was good. The two walked around looking at the stalls, sometimes they bought things, they bonded over the die sets they both bought and agreed you could never have enough. They also went to a stand that sold what they called superhero clothes. They were made to be durable yet fashionable and the two tried on many things. It was great. They even wanted to go to the same panel and afterwards they went to the concession center. They were even sharing a pretzel.

 

“So…you never told me how you are following me without me actually catching on to the fact you followed me. I know I mentioned it before but, I am a really big fan of you.” Jeremy confessed as he shoved a piece of pretzel in his mouth.

 

“Ha, yeah I guess I forgot, but it’s a funny story. You see I may or may not have made various accounts to follow you on…”

 

“Run that by me again?” Jeremy asked as he blinked at Michael. Did he hear that right? Michael made other accounts just to follow him on.

 

“It’s weird right? I know sorry.”

 

“No, no it’s all good. But uh…why didn’t you just follow me on your main…if-if you don’t mind me asking.”

 

Michael sighed and blushed and Jeremy’s anxiety was screaming at him that he said something wrong, like he knew he would, but Michael gave him this soft smile that he had been giving him the entire time they had been walking around together. “It’s uh, it’s not that I’m like ashamed of following you or anything but I don’t know if you remember the whole Dustin thing that went on a couple years ago?”

 

Jeremy’s eyebrows shot up at that, of course he remembered it. It had caused so much drama between Michael’s fans, Jeremy included. It had turned into such a bid deal that even tea spilling and drama channels started making videos on the matter. Jeremy remembered feeling really bad for both parties involved.

 

“Yeah…that was bad. Was…Is that why you made the accounts? So, something like that wouldn’t happen again?”

 

Michael nodded. “Yeah. I know that it’s weird and comes across as rude but dude, I’ve been a fan of you for awhile and I didn’t want that to happen to you at all. It was awful and Dustin stopped being my friend altogether and I didn’t want to risk it if I ever got the courage to talk to you. But like, I also didn’t want to try and befriend you on the other accounts because I didn’t want to lie to you and if I like claimed I was Michael, I thought you wouldn’t believe me and would block me.” He rambled.

 

“Dude, I understand. Plus, it’s flattering to know you wanted to talk to me almost as much as I wanted to talk to you.”

 

“Why didn’t you?”

 

“Why didn’t I what?” Jeremy asked as he took a sip of his black cherry soda.

 

“Why didn’t you try and talk to me?” Michael asked as he popped the last of the pretzel in his mouth.

 

“I mentioned my anxiety remember? That was one of the reasons why I didn’t, plus I didn’t want to worry about what I would say and do.”

 

“Makes sense, but, and I don’t want this to sound rude, but why aren’t you worrying now?”

 

“I am but like, I can’t hide from it like I could behind a phone.”

 

Michael nodded again and held his cup up for a toast. “I declare a toast, to us for getting our shit together and talking. I would also like to shout myself out for talking to the cutest boy at this convention.”

 

Jeremy giggled as he clinked their cups together and blushed as he pouted. “Who’s the cutest boy you talked to? The only boy you talked to much has been-oh!” He could feel himself blush bad, to the point that even his ears felt hot. Michael smirked at him gave a wink which made Jeremy smile back.

 

“So, you finally got over that Heere dude and got a boyfriend good for you Micah!” A loud voice said. Jeremy looked up, his face completely red and looked over at the boy who yelled at them. He recognized him as RichieDoesntWant2BCopyrightedRich who ran a cooking and video game YouTube with his boyfriend SbarroIsDaBest who also had his own channel where he explained how to play games, so people wouldn’t be confused when trying to play them themselves.

 

“Rich!” Michael squawked, clearly embarrassed.

 

“What? I was kidding.” Said boy laughed as he held his hands up in surrender.

 

“Oh well, uh, I’m Jeremy.” And thus, ended Jeremy’s life. He was going to go die in a whole. Why the hell did he say that?????

 

Thankfully though everyone laughed. Christine showed up a little after they did and they all decided to hand out together for the rest of the day. At the end of the day they all found out they were staying at the same hotel some kind of fanfiction! But they weren’t on the same floor, if that happened then Jeremy would have seriously started to think they were in some weird fanfiction. But before they parted ways Michael asked him if they could hang out the second day of the convention together as well. Of course, Jeremy agreed. That night he had trouble falling asleep because he was so very excited for tomorrow, but Christine told him to stop thinking so loud and go to bed. Jeremy retaliated by throwing a pillow at her and telling her to shut up, his voice cracked because it always does but that didn’t stop them from laughing and telling each other goodnight. He really hoped today hadn’t all been a dream.

 

________________________________________________________

 

 

When Michael woke up, the first thing he did was check his phone, and the second thing he did was stare at it in disbelief for about five minutes before Jake came into his room and asked him if he wanted to go grab breakfast before they headed off to the convention. Michael agreed and rushed into the bathroom to get ready but continued to stare at the new contact in his phone. ‘Jeremy’, he could die happy, except he couldn’t because that would mean dying and not hanging out with Jeremy like he said he would. And dammit he would not break this promise for anything. Jeremy had seemed so surprised when Michael asked if they could hang out again, it was cute and a little sad that he didn’t think Michael would want to but he had positively beamed when Michael had asked for his phone number so they could decide where to meet up for the day.

 

There was an obvious pep in his step all throughout breakfast and when they showed up to get in line again for the convention hall. He had texted Jeremy good morning and the two hadn’t stopped talking since, he let him know where he, Rich, and Jake were in the line. Jeremy said they were close by so Michael kept his eyes out for the lanky boy and when he saw him, he wanted to squeal and just propose already. Jeremy looked so god damn soft! Michael didn’t like to cuss but FUCK, that boy looked good. He was wearing a striped shirt, of course, but this one was a soft blue with light green and dark green stripes, and he was wearing short overalls that had Broadway patches all over them. He was wearing his converse that looked hand painted that had Apocalypse of the Damned on them and fake blood all over them. And! And he was wearing his glasses, which he has only worn twice in all of his videos. Yes Michael paid that much attention to the boy, because how could he not? Jeremy was so so cute. Also adorable. Also hot. Which was not a good combination for Michael’s poor poor heart. There was also the fact that Jeremy was a geek, which was just so awesome.

 

Michael waved at Jeremy who smiled and waved back, and Michael swore his heart literally went UwU at the sight. Michael waited for the two of them to walk over before he decided to give Jeremy a hug. Then he promptly freaked out over the fact that he gave Jeremy a hug because he's literally only known Jeremy for one day. But when Jeremy hugged back, he was no longer freakeing out over it and just enjoyed the hug. It was warm and good and everything Michael imagined it would be. The group all shared some snacks before the convention hall opened, once it did though they all went their separate ways. Christine said something about going and meeting up with this girl Jenna she had met yesterday, and Jeremy had teased her before she whispered something to Jeremy that had him blushing hard. God, Michael loved making Jeremy blush, it was great because he blushed so easily.

 

“Ready to go sir?” Michael said with a bow and overly fake British accent.

 

Jeremy laughed and nodded as he did a small curtsy. “Ready as you are Sir.”

 

They both laughed at their antics as they walked around to look at all the games the creators were trying to promote. Occasionally they would stop and listen to the creator describe their game and even decided to play test some. Sometimes they actually bought the games other times the would guiltily walk away because they felt bad for not wanting to buy the games, and then they would bond over the mutual guilt they were feeling. They went to more panels and had in depth conversations about them and that was just the absolute best feeling. To have someone to talk to these things about. Rich and Jake were great but they didn’t understand a lot of what he wanted to discuss. They tried to understand but it was clear that they weren’t that interested in the topic so he would drop it.

 

“So yeah basically the game is the player trying to destroy classic authors in time in order to save the little town of Ravell.”

 

Michael finally tuned back in to the conversation and immediately felt bad for zoning out but he looked over at Jeremy who looked so interested in the game they were hearing about. It was super cute.

 

“That’s awesome! So do you have more games planned or is it going to be just one game?” Jeremy asked as he picked up a character poster and smiled at it.

 

“I do plan for it to be a series!” The creator said with a smile as she grabbed the poster from Jeremy and signed it for him, which made him smile more.

 

“That’s cool dude, are you working on any other games?” Michael asked as he looked at the trailer for the game going on on the screen in front of them.

 

“That’s a secret.”

 

“So you are. “Jeremy said with a laugh. “But man, in all honesty I’m excited for your game! It sounds like it’ll have a lot of lore in it.”

 

“That’s the plan. Lore for theories!” The creator laughed. That comment made Jeremy look at her in surprise, as well as Michael. “Sorry but I really like you channel. So, it’s really really cool that you’re here listening to me explain my game.”

 

“Oh my god. Thank you! I’m really glad you like my stuff!” Jeremy said bashfully.

 

“His stuff is amazing isn’t it?” Michael chimed in which made Jeremy look back at him with a glare of betrayal. Of course, Michael responded with a wink.

 

The creator wholeheartedly agreed, and Michael got to gush about his favorite boy who looked like he was doing an impression of a tomato. It didn’t go away even when the girl asked for a picture with Jeremy and then with Michael. Michael thought the day was going relatively smoothly. What with all the great panels they went to and then the great games they got to hear about. Michael was really enjoying himself, especially with Jeremy acting all cute. He knew it was soon but he really wanted to ask Jeremy on a date, but he reasoned that life was sometimes fast and all you could do was go with the flow, maybe that’s why he was heavily considering asking Jeremy out after one day. He sounded like a Disney princess didn’t he? But there was a part of Michael that was arguing against it because of the whole Dustin situations. What id his fans started to harass Jeremy? He couldn’t handle it if they did so that. It would literally break his heart. But there was also a part of him that said him and Jeremy were adults and could make their own decisions. He liked that part of him, it was rational. Now the only thing to do was figure out how to ask Jeremy.

 

The day passed much the same as the first day but now Michael had butterflies, good butterflies because he really just wanted to ask out Jeremy, but Rich got sick and Michael and Jake had to take him to the hotel and Michael was pretty bummed out but then Christine and Jeremy insisted on helping out by going to a store and grabbing medicine and saltines and some water and sprite, Jake declared it a movie night and Christine decided they would all do face masks because she had found some that these two beauty gurus used, Brooke and Chloe, and decided they had to all try it out. Michael wanted to be upset but he couldn’t when he got to hang out with his friends and new friends and possible boyfriend. All around it was a good day, but he would definitely ask that boy out tomorrow.

 

______________________________________________________

 

Jeremy didn’t know how to describe the past two days, but they had been wonderful, and he had a whole other day planned out with Michael. They did their routine one meeting at the convention and then splitting off into groups. They all got to meet Jenna Rolan who talked so fast, but she was really cool, and Jeremy could tell her, and Christine were hitting it off right away. Christine looked so happy and Jeremy was happy for her. He was also very happy because he got to hang out with Michael for another day. He wanted to try and ask him to hang out outside of the convention like last night but like alone. Like a date, but if Michael didn’t want it to be then it would just be two bros hanging out, but Jeremy really wanted it to be a date.

 

He didn’t know if it was too soon, it probably was but Jeremy didn’t care. He knows it sounded cheesy but him and Michael just clicked. It…it felt like fate honestly. He knows he sounded like a bad chick flick but dammit it was how he felt.

 

“Whatcha thinking bout?” Michael asked as they sat down with a game to play at the game center, they both caved, they were supposed to wait for their friends, but they had gotten stopped and people kept asking for pictures with Michael, some with Jeremy and some with both of them. The fans were great, but they got tired and decided to play a game. They had looked around for a long time till they came across a game called Sushi Go. Michael had squealed and immediately went to trade in his ID for the game. Apparently, he really liked Sushi and the art looked hella cute.

 

“Mm, I guess us.”

 

“Us?” It sounded like Michael choked, it was probably his drink, but Jeremy continued to set up the game.

 

“Yeah, I’m just really glad we got to meet and talk. You’re really awesome dude.”

 

“Dude you are cooler than a vintage cassette.”

 

Jeremy laughed at that. He loved Michael’s compliments, they were cool and so totally Michael. “You’re sweet.”

 

“For you.”

 

And there it was. Jeremy was like 99.9% sure Michael was flirting with him but that .01% was convinced that that was just how Michael was and he was just super nice, but it sounded? flirty? “You.” Was all he said. Michael only chuckled and let Jeremy finish up setting up the game before he took out a piece of paper and a pen.

 

“Of course, you pick a game that looks cute but is evil on the outside.” Jeremy grumbled.

 

“What ever do you mean?”

 

“This game actually has a strategy to it, and it has math. It’s evil. The cute fooled me.” Jeremy complained as he dealt out the cards.

 

“If that’s your theory does that mean you’re secretly evil?” Michael asked. “Because you’re really cute Heere.”

 

Jeremy sputtered and looked at Michael who was leaning on the table and smiling smugly at him. Then Michael winked and sat back in his seat and grabbed his cards. “Teach me how to play the game Jerbear!” Jeremy didn’t know how to respond so he just decided to do just that and the two played for a long time. Things got heated, the competition was fierce, and all of it over really cute Sushi art. They decided to switch to another game before ultimately, they went to the arcade section and just played any game they came across. It was fun, and the others met up with them again so they could go grab lunch together. They all went to some Taco place across the way which was a bit pricey but it had some delicious tacos. Rich tried to steal the assortment of hot sauces they had but Michael quickly put a stop to that. Jake tried to cheer his boyfriend up with the promise of ice cream which seemed to do the trick. Also, Jenna joined them, and Jeremy loved listening to her stories, she just really had a way with words.

 

The day continued and they all went back to the convention and by dinner time Michael had begun to mess with the ends of his shirt and stare at Jeremy. Jeremy was going to ask if he was okay but then Michael asked him, “So, I found about this cool place and I was wondering if you wanted to come check it out with me.”

 

“Yeah! That sounds awesome. What-What is it?” Jeremy had to do his best not to jump up and down in happiness. He would get to hang out longer with Michael and it would be just the two of them.

 

“It’s this place called the Emerald Tavern and it’s a board game café. I bought some of their games and am now part of their membership thing and I wanted to check out the place, and I really wanted to check it out with you.”

 

Jeremy nodded. “I would love too!”

 

“Yeah dude us too that sounds awesome.” What was up with people interrupting their conversations? They both turned to see Jake and Rich walking up.

 

“Oh actually-“Michael started but was cut off by Christine and Jenna walking up.

 

“What are we doing tonight?” Christine asked.

 

“We’re going to this place called th Emerald Tavern! Michael said it’s a game board café.” Rich said.

 

“Oooooo that sounds fun!” Jenna exclaimed as she pulled out her phone, she was probably looking up the place. They all found out she was wickedly good at finding out information about places and people. It was amazing yet terrifying at the same time.

 

Michael looked a little in distress so Jeremy reached over and grabbed his hand, he had been wanting to do it for so long but Michael looked like he needed some comfort and Jeremy thought it was the best thing to do but when Michael did nothing but stare down at his hand and Jeremy was about to pull his hand away and spend the next thousand years apologizing but then Michael held his hand back and smiled up at him.

 

They all decided to split up in separate cars and meet over at the café, when they did Jeremy was in love. It was so cute. There were games everywhere and the places smelled like bake sweets and tea and it was amazing. You could buy games which Jeremy’s wallet was begging him not to do but he was heavily considering not listening. They all got a table outside and ordered their drinks and food. Jeremy decided on a London Fog and a BLT with a slice of pumpkin loaf. Weird combination, but it was delicious. After they all ate, they decided to play games. It was late by the time they got to the hotel, but they were happy and Jeremy couldn’t wait till tomorrow.

 

__________________________________________

 

To say Michael was peeved with Rich and Jake was an understatement but he couldn’t stay mad at them. It’s just he finally got the courage to ask Jeremy on a date, or sort of date and they all crashed it. Admittedly it had been super fun and all, but Michael had wanted to get Jeremy alone and maybe tell him how beautiful and amazing he was and just in general woo him for all he’s got. There was only two days left for the gaming part of the convention and Jeremy had mentioned he wasn’t staying for the other parts of the convention like Michael was because his dad’s birthday was this week and his dad wanted to actually do something. Apparently, he never really wanted to do much besides hang out at home and order take out and watch Gilmore Girls or whatever show he recently got into. Jeremy told him about the Grey’s Anatomy phase, he had never seen Jeremy’s eyes so diffused of light in them. He looked like he was remembering a particularly heavy memory, but he really just did not like Grey’s Anatomy, but his dad would guilt trip him into watching it with him, so he now had a large knowledge about that show.

 

But there was the positive that him and Jeremy were going to hang out again today, and Michael was determined to ask him out on a date but make sure none of their friends were around to suggest they all go together, because he knew that tomorrow was going to be the game awards and then in the morning Jeremy and Christine would be boarding their flight to go home. So, it was now or never.

 

“Morning Jer.” Michael said as Jeremy walked up, it was particularly hot that day, so he took the time to admire Jeremy’s shorts, and maybe admire his long legs, if he did that was no one’s business but his own.

 

“Morning Micah!” Jeremy smiled and gave Michael a small hug.

 

God, he loved that Jeremy got into the habit of using his nickname, it made him feel and warm and buttery inside and Jeremy would get this little smile every time he said it and it made Michael want to cry because it was that cute. “Where’s Christine?”

 

Jeremy laughed softly and rolled his eyes, “She didn’t want to get up early today, she has these days where she actually can’t function before noon. They are rare but I’m not surprised about this one.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“It was way overdue.” Jeremy explained with a small hand gesture. That was another thing Michael noticed was that Jeremy talked with his hands a lot. It was great. Especially when he got excited his hand went wild and Michael had the urge to hold them and tell him how cute he was.

 

“Makes sense.” Michael chuckled. He turned to look at Rich and Jake who were badly listening in on their conversation and giving Michael matching signature shit-eating grins. He flipped them off but tried not to let Jeremy see it.

 

“You excited for the Costume Contest today?” Jeremy asked as adjusted the straps of his bag and tilted his head at Michael.

 

“Totally dude! I love seeing everybody’s costumes. It’s a lot smaller than other conventions but I love it.”

 

“Same!”

 

“You ever cosplay Jer?” Michael asked playfully.

 

The blush that followed was intriguing, very very intriguing. “Um…yeah, yeah I did.”

 

“Oh?” Michael asked as he leaned in closer to a flustered Jeremy. “What have you cosplayed as Jer?”

 

“Oh, hey look! They’re letting people in.” The topic change was not smooth at all but Michael allowed it and followed after Jeremy, maybe it was because he was a gentleman, maybe it was for a nice view, but can’t it just be both?

 

The two went on with their usual routine of looking at games, playing demos, looking=g at all the stands, considering spending money but trying hard not to. It was great and Michael let himself build up the courage to hold Jeremy’s hand. Jeremy held his hand back and of course Michael noticed the blush. Jeremy could not blush discreetly at all, it was very noticeable against his pale skin. He complained about it constantly because apparently, he suffered from second hand embarrassment and whenever something embarrassing happened to someone else, fictional or not, he would blush. It was a problem in high school he explained. But he noticed that when Jer talked about high school there was a tenseness in his shoulders that wouldn’t go away way to long after the conversation ended. Michael wanted to ask about it but he also didn’t want to bring up any bad memories for Jeremy when he was trying to win over the other boy. So, for the time being he would hold this beautiful boys hand for however long he could get away with it.

 

“Want to grab a drink and ice cream from the concession?” Michael asked as he noticed Jeremy fanning himself, it was pretty hot in the hall because of all the body heat.

 

“Yesssssss please!” Jeremy whined which made Michael laugh and they headed on over.

 

“You look like you need something to cool you down.”

 

“Haha yeah. I knew it was going to be hot but not this hot. It makes me dizzy.”

 

‘The heat?”

 

“Yeah, I’m anemic and heat and I don’t go along really well.” Jeremy mumbled as they walked.

 

“Dude…you have quite the list of medical things.”

 

Jeremy chuckled and nodded, “Believe me I know.”

 

The two settled into comfortable silence which was just another thing on the growing list of things that Michael liked about Jeremy. They could just be in each other’s presence and there was no need to fill all the silences, they just enjoyed each other’s company. They got their drinks and ice cream and sat at one of the tables and just browsed on their phones. Michael hated when people got offended by even the thought of him being on his phone in their presence. That’s why he liked Jeremy because Jeremy just got on his phone if he got on his and they still enjoyed that company. Social interaction was exhausting so he liked the little break from it. It was like this for a while before Michael saw he got a text, which was very surprising considering the service in the place was like playing a game of marco polo in the world’s largest pool. It was from Rich saying him and Jake were going back to the hotel to “nap.”

 

Michael rolled his eyes but realized that meant the possibility of him and Jeremy getting interrupted again was very slim! Finally! The only thing that could interrupt them was Jenna and Christine so Michael would have to be on the look out for them when he planned to ask Jeremy out. He briefly thought about doing it now, but the concession center was the most dangerous place to be, they had been interrupted there so many times before, whether it be from their friends or fans. That was another thing Michael had to be on the lookout for. There were already pictures of them circulating and Michael wasn’t sure if Jeremy had seen them yet. If he had he was doing a remarkable job of pretending he hadn’t then. They were cute pictures though but it made Michael a little uneasy and a wee bit mad that people had to document their every move, like where was the privacy?

 

Oh yeah…Nonexistent.

 

“Wanna walk around some more before the contest starts?”

 

“Sure!” Jeremy replied as he stood up stretched. Michael may or may not have followed the movement and thanking every god he could think of for letting him meet and befriend this boy. “You coming?”

 

“Yup. Where do you want to go look?”

 

“How about the shopping hall? We haven’t really looked around there a lot.” Jeremy suggested.

 

“Sure sounds fun, I’ve been wanting to look at some of those stands selling Vinyl.”

 

“God you’re such a hipster.” Jeremy teased.

 

“Jeremiah Heere you take that back!” Michael gasped, he held in his laugh but couldn’t hold it in for very long and then both of them were laughing.

 

The two looked over everything, spent even more money and before they knew it, it was almost time for people to line up to get into the costume contest to begin so the two rushed over to the hall where the contest was going to be held and stood in line. They got a couple requests for pictures and they took a couple pictures together themselves and Michael couldn’t help but admire how cute they looked together and how photogenic Jer was. Jeremy argued that he was absolutely not, in no way shape or form, photogenic, but of course Michael argued he was. And told him everything about him was amazing, from the way his eyes scrunched up when he was truly smiling, to his dimples that deepened with that smile, to the blush permanently present on his cheeks, just everything. That in turn made Jeremy blush and smack Michael’s arm because he couldn’t think of anything to say, but it was okay.

 

Finally they got to grab some seats for the contest, they saw Jenna and Christine arrive later and sit in the back together, and Michael just knew it was his chance to ask Jeremy to dinner. The contest had started, and Michael knew that Jeremy really wanted to watch it but if he didn’t ask him then and there, he would regret it and never get the chance again. Which was ridiculous but it was how he felt.

 

“Hey, Jer?” Michael leaned over and whispered.

 

“Yeah Micah?” Jeremy whispered back.

 

“How about we have dinner tonight?”

 

“Sounds good, where to?”

 

“It’s a surprise.”

 

“Oh. Do the others know where it is or is it a surprise for them too?”

 

Michael sighed and rolled his eyes; this boy was cute but so very oblivious. He watched as a group of people walked on stage cosplaying the Legend of Korra gang, which was brilliant, before he turned to look at Jeremy. “No, it’s not. Jeremy, I’m asking you out on a date.”

 

At that Jeremy froze, and Michael was kind of scared that he had broken him but then he saw the blush taking over Jeremy’s adorable face and smiled at him, waiting for his answer. Jeremy opened his mouth and closed it many times before he glanced at Michael, “You-You want to go on a date with me? Are you sure?”

 

“I’m beyond sure Jeremy. I’ve been wanting to ask for a while now.”

 

“But if we go on a date then there is a very high probability that we’ll start to date because I like like you a lot Michael, and I really want to date you but what if something bad happens?”

 

“I’m willing to take that risk. I really like you Jeremy, you make me happy and I know we haven’t known each other long but I know I want you in my life. Whether that mean you being my friend or my boyfriend.” Michael confessed as he reached over and grabbed Jeremy’s hands, they were shaking slightly so he gave them a soft squeeze.

 

“You…but what about the distance? We don’t exactly live that close.” Jeremy asked, his voice was shaking much like his hands were.

 

“Six hours isn’t enough to make me change my mind Jeremy. What are you scared of?”

 

“I…I don’t want to mess anything up Micah, I, you had always been important in my life but meeting you only solidified that and, I’m…I’m a mess.” Jeremy took in a shaky breath, “I’m afraid that I’ll mess up everything between us.”

 

Michael removed his hand from Jeremy’s, and he saw a small look of fear and hurt cross Jeremy’s face, so he quickly cupped the boys face in his hands and made him look at him. He knew this really wasn’t the best place to be having this conversation but at the same time it was because neither could run away from the other even if they wanted to out of fear or anxiety. “I’m a mess too dude, like, god I may be acting all calm but on the inside mt heart is doing the guitar solo from the beginning of through the fire and the flames.”

 

“Nerd.” Jeremy whispered with a laugh.

 

“I’m willing to be your nerd man. I really want to take you out tonight so take a chance on me.” Michael said in a rush, he really wanted Jeremy to say yes, Jeremy looked like he wanted to say yes. Michael was praying for a yes.

 

“Did you…Did you just make a RENT and Mamma Mia reference in the same sentence?” Jeremy asked, which honestly wasn’t anything Michael guessed would come out of Jeremy’s mouth but hey he would role with it.

 

“Maybe. But that’s not important Jer.”

 

“It’s important to me. I didn’t know you like musicals.”

 

“I didn’t, but well, when I watched your videos you tend to sing show tunes and I decided to watch where they were from because you liked them, and I liked you and I wanted to know the things that brought you joy.”

 

Jeremy smiled at him with so much fondness that Michael almost forgot how to breath. “That’s literally the sweetest thing anybody has every done and said to me.” He whispered and leaned in.

 

Michael knew this was the least private place to do this but screw it. “Is that a yes?” He couldn’t hold back the hope that seeped through his voice as he leaned in closer to. He could feel Jeremy’s breath on his face.

 

“It’s a big yes you dork. I just, I get stuck in my head sometimes but this is something I don’t want to be stuck on. I’m willing to take a chance on this. On us. I just…it won’t be easy.” Was all Jeremy got to say before Michael pulled him into a kiss by his face, slowly as to not spook Jeremy and to give him time to pull away but when he didn’t Michael smiled into the kiss. It was soft and warm and tender. It was a promise of what would be, it was a reminder that all that happened was real, and it was their first kiss. It was no where near perfect, their teeth clacked a couple of times and they kept stopping to softly laugh but it was perfect to them. 


End file.
